Triangle of Hades 2
(This is a continuation of the alternate universe I created in Degrees of Evil and that is featured in Information Exchange. I do not own any part of Charmed, I just write about it. And as always, please comment and tell me what you think.)
"What? Are you insane? Why do you want to go there?" Leo asked incredulously.
"Because it is the only place we can find out how much of a threat this really is." Cole said seriously.
"I don't follow." Leo said in confusion.
"Look, the creature in the Wasteland contains the psyches of every demon ever vanquished. It is how it devours them. If I mindscape into the creature, I can find Hades and ask him the truth. If I don't, we may be risking the lives of the Charmed Ones for nothing."
"But still." Leo said.
"Please, Leo. You're the only one I know I can trust. Take me there so I can get to work. Let me do this, I need to do this," Cole said earnestly.
Leo looked at Cole for a few moments, as if measuring his soul. He then said, "Alright, I'll take you."
"As he grabbed him, Leo said, "But don't die doing this."
Cole smiled, and said, "Never planned to." They then orbed out.
***
As they arrived in the Wasteland, Cole turned to Leo and said, "Get somewhere above ground. I don't want you to be absorbed." Leo nodded, and then said hesitantly, "I hope you know what you're doing."
Cole turned as Leo jumped up onto a higher platform, and waited. Within seconds, the beast appeared, and lunged at Cole. Cole tensed, and said, "STOP!" The creature instantly paused, and began to tremble. Cole reached out and touched the top of its head. "You remember me, don't you? Don't worry, I'm not going to destroy you. There is just something I have to take care of." Cole then went transparent, and jumped into the creature.
***
"Here we are," Michael said as he pulled out a small book from a shelf.
"I just hope this one is more accurate than the coven list," Piper said.
"Don't worry, this one is much easier to keep up to date. Alright, let me look it up," Michael began to flip through the pages rapidly. He finally stopped and said triumphantly, "Found it! The three pieces have surfaced now and then in history, and they have always been recorded. Aside from the one that was stolen, there are two others. One belonged to a witch named Joanna Debuegh. However, she was killed in the 50's, and no one has seen it since."
"Damn, that means that evil already has two of the pieces," Paige said.
"Not necessarily, but it is a likelihood." Michael said, "However, there is some good news. The final piece is a part of a traveling museum unit. It is currently on display in the Egyptian wing of the San Francisco Museum of Arts. We should easily be able to get to it.."
"Let's hurry," Piper said, "We may get lucky and get there before the Warlocks do."
"Should we get Cole and Leo?" Phoebe asked.
"We don't have time, we have to move now. Every second counts in this race." Piper said. "It's risky, but I think we'll be alright. After all, we have our children to protect us, and there are 6 magic users among us. Let's go." The sisters and Michael ran out of the library, and then Paige orbed them.
***
When Cole could see again, he found himself in a prison of some sorts. Rather, Cole realized this is how his mind was able to recognize the captivity of the demon's psyches. "I really like this gift," Cole said out loud. However, as he looked around, Cole realized this was endless, and it would take to long to find the demon he seeked. Cole thought of a sword, and one appeared in his hands. He then began to walk down the hall, seeking a specific demon.
About half an hour later (Cole's wasn't really sure, since time is meaningless here), Cole was thoroughly sick of this place. For one thing, every demon was screaming, for they were slowly being devoured. Even though Cole had done some pretty gruesome things, it took all his effort not to throw up at the sight of some of the demons. In addition, Cole was getting nowhere in his search. Cole was about to give up when he began to feel a tugging on his soul, almost as if something was calling him. Cole realized what and who it was, and began to head rapidly in the direction of the "pull". As he walked, he noticed that the demons were organized fairly well here by timeframe. He had been passing the newer demons, and the older ones must be farther back.
He walked for about 10 minutes, and then he found what he was looking for. Sitting side by side, screaming loudly, were the two demons he sought. He looked at them, and then said, "Hello."
As they turned to observe him, they both smiled. "So, our shared human half has finally come to join us." Belthazor and the Source remarked. Cole smiled, and said, "Not exactly. I have come to end your pain."
"I am surprised by such compassion," the Source said, "But then again, you always were the weaker half."
"You misunderstand. The three of us share a secret that I cannot allow to get out, so I must take steps." Cole said with a smile. He held his right hand up, and an athame appeared. "Any last words?"
"No, only end this torment. Even oblivion will be better than this." Belthazor said. "And I look forward to seeing you join us soon," he finished with an evil smile.
"Not a chance," Cole said, "I'm good now." He threw, and the first athame buried itself in Belthazor's neck. He jerked, and then faded. Cole turned and quickly threw another one, which killed the Source. Cole smiled, and said, "And then there was one." He then left the creature's mind.
***
Paige orbed them into the women's bathroom of the Museum. Michael looked around, and said, "This is embarrassing. Couldn't you have picked someplace else?"
"I had to make sure that we wouldn't be seen," Paige said defensively. "Don't worry, we'll make sure it's safe before we let you out, and we won't tell a soul you were in the women's bathroom."
As the sisters left the bathroom, they looked around, and then Piper said, "It's fine." Michael quickly walked out, and then remarked, "You know, your bathroom is much nicer than ours usually are."
"Of course it is. We're much neater than men," Phoebe said, "Now, let's find us a triangle piece. Which way is the Egyptian exhibit."
"That way," Michael said as it pointed.
"Do you know everything?" Phoebe said in mock annoyance.
"Actually, I just read the sign," Michael said sardonically.
"Oh," Phoebe said as she went red. The sisters hurried to the exhibit. When they got there, they found it to be disserted. Looking around, Paige pointed and asked, "Is that our artifact?"
Michael looked over, and said, "It appears to be." The artifact was stationed with several other broken pieces. The exhibit sign said, "Pyramid pieces," and the artifact was in the center. Michael walked over and said, "Question is, how do we get it?"
"Not a problem," Paige said. She held out her arm, and said, "Triangle Piece." The piece glowed, but otherwise nothing happened. Paige looked in disbelief, and then piper said, "Well, that worked. Just call for the glass shield, and we'll grab it." Paige nodded, and said, "Glass shield." The glass shield disappeared and reappeared in Paige's hands.
As Piper reached for the artifact, a voice said, "What are you doing?" The sisters and Michael spun to see two men wearing security uniforms looking at them suspiciously. "Oh, oh," Piper said.
"Freeze them!" Phoebe shouted. Piper gestured, but the guards kept moving. One turned to the other and said, "So much for our cover. Men!" Five more people blinked in. Phoebe looked at Michael, and said, "Looks like the competition found us."
One of the guards smiled, and said, "So, witches have gotten involved. Oh, well. Get out of our way, and I promise your death will be painless."
"I don't think so," Paige said, and held out her hand. A lightning bolt shot out and almost hit the lead warlock. He ducked, and then said, "A weatherwitch? Just great. Kill them!" The other warlocks summoned athames, and began to advance.
Michael pointed at one and said, "Solaris vicar." A beam of light left his hand and hit the warlock in the chest. He fell back, and lay still. Another warlock threw his athame, and buried it in Michael's shoulder. As Michael fell back with a cry, Phoebe shouted, "LEO!"
A few seconds later, Leo orbed in with a guilty expression on his face and Cole on his arm. He looked around, and the guilt vanished. As Leo ran towards Michael, Cole made a diving tackle of one of the warlocks. They both fell, and began to wrestle around on the ground.
The remaining five warlocks regrouped, and attacked the Charmed Ones head on. Piper tried to blow one of them up, but he tackled her before she could gesture. As he tried to impale her, Piper brought her hand up and slammed it into the warlock's neck. The warlock fell back, and Piper gestured. The warlock exploded.
As another warlock threw an athame, Piper held out her hand. Another cone of orange light emerged, and a stone block fell from the roof and blocked the athame. Piper looked at her hands, and then said, "I have got to figure this out." As she looked back up, she saw one of the warlocks grab the triangle piece. He said, "Two down, one to go. Let's go!" He and the rest of the warlocks then blinked out.
Phoebe got up and said, "Damn, we lost."
"Look, we can discuss this later," Leo said nervously. "Let's get out of here before someone sees us." The sisters, Michael and Cole grabbed onto Leo, and they orbed out.
***
About an hour later, Piper hung up the phone and said, "We're safe. Apparently, the warlocks disabled the security cameras, so there is no footage. Daryl also said the sheer number of fingerprints on the glass made it impossible for them to figure out who did it. The only question is, what do we do now? They've won."
"Maybe not," Michael said. "Remember, the warlock only said they had two pieces, and still needed one."
"I'd forgotten that," Piper said in surprise. "So, what piece are they missing?"
"Well, we know these are the same warlocks that stole the piece from the Library, so it must be the piece that belonged to Joanna Debuegh. We assumed evil had it, but apparently they don't."
"Then, where is it?" Phoebe asked. "I mean, it's not exactly like we can search the world for it."
"We may not have to," Paige said. She looked at her sisters, "Look, Joanna was a witch right? Why don't we summon her spirit and ask her what she did with it?"
"That's a good idea Paige," Piper said. "Let's do it."
Cole looked at the sisters, and said, "I'm going to go back to my place, I left a couple of pre-made potions there that might be useful. Leo, you should stay here. Can I borrow someone's car?"
Piper tossed him her keys, and said, "Just don't get pulled over like last time."
Cole smiled, said, "Don't worry," and was out the door.
Piper turned to her sisters and asked, "Shall we get to it?"
***
Beloved and Unknown spirit, we seek your guidance. We ask you to commune with us, and move among us.
After the sisters repeated the chant a few times, a spirit appeared in front of them. It was a younger woman, who must have been Phoebe's age when she died. She looked around, and asked, "What's going on, why have you summoned me?"
"Are you Joanna?" Michael asked.
The witch looked at Michael, and said, "Yes, what do you want?"
"We are looking for your piece of the Triangle of Hades," Piper said.
The witch's face went stubborn, and she said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Listen, some warlocks are after it to, and we have to get the piece so we can protect it." Phoebe said. When the ghost said nothing, Phoebe added, "Would it help if I told you we're the Charmed Ones?"
The ghost gave a visible start, and said, "The Charmed Ones? My goodness, I never thought I'd see you. Of course I'll help you."
"Where is your piece of the Triangle?" Paige asked.
The women smiled, and said, "My mother was a seer, and when I was born, I saw my death. I knew exactly when and how I would die, and who would kill me. I also knew the significance of my Triangle piece, and decided to do what I could to protect it. I knew no matter where I went, evil would find me, and take it back. I also knew as long as good had it, Evil could always find it. Good can sense evil and all that. Anyway, my born gift was persuasion. I could magically bind any creature to do my bidding. However, the stronger the creature, the harder it would be to make it do what I wanted."
"I'm not sure I see the relevance?" Michael confessed.
"Hush," the women said, "My, you are really impatient. Anyway, as I was saying, when the demon came for me, I was ready. Instead of defending myself, I magically bound him. He was to take the Triangle piece and hide it, and then tell no one where it was. I died, but my spell worked. The demon had to do what I said, and so I knew the Triangle would be safe, for who would suspect evil of having an object stolen by good?"
"Then where is it?" Phoebe asked.
The women sighed, and said, "That is the inherent problem. I don't know. I made sure I wouldn't, in case some evil force tried to compel me later on to tell them where it was. I honestly don't know. Only the demon who killed me knows, and I haven't the slightest clue what happened to him. My advice, summon him and make him tell, if you can. He seemed to be rather powerful and willful to me, and I'm not sure you can get him to tell you."
"We'll have to take that chance," Paige said. "What is the demon's name, so we can summon him?"
The women said, "Are you sure about this? This demon is powerful, and has killed many witches. Even the Charmed Ones may have trouble with this one."
"We can handle it," Piper said confidently, "We beat the Source; how tough can one demon be?"
The woman shook her head and said, "And I thought I was arrogant in my lifetime. Very well, I will tell you."
"His name was Belthazor."
TO BE CONTINUED.
(This is a continuation of the alternate universe I created in Degrees of Evil and that is featured in Information Exchange. I do not own any part of Charmed, I just write about it. And as always, please comment and tell me what you think.)
"What? Are you insane? Why do you want to go there?" Leo asked incredulously.
"Because it is the only place we can find out how much of a threat this really is." Cole said seriously.
"I don't follow." Leo said in confusion.
"Look, the creature in the Wasteland contains the psyches of every demon ever vanquished. It is how it devours them. If I mindscape into the creature, I can find Hades and ask him the truth. If I don't, we may be risking the lives of the Charmed Ones for nothing."
"But still." Leo said.
"Please, Leo. You're the only one I know I can trust. Take me there so I can get to work. Let me do this, I need to do this," Cole said earnestly.
Leo looked at Cole for a few moments, as if measuring his soul. He then said, "Alright, I'll take you."
"As he grabbed him, Leo said, "But don't die doing this."
Cole smiled, and said, "Never planned to." They then orbed out.
***
As they arrived in the Wasteland, Cole turned to Leo and said, "Get somewhere above ground. I don't want you to be absorbed." Leo nodded, and then said hesitantly, "I hope you know what you're doing."
Cole turned as Leo jumped up onto a higher platform, and waited. Within seconds, the beast appeared, and lunged at Cole. Cole tensed, and said, "STOP!" The creature instantly paused, and began to tremble. Cole reached out and touched the top of its head. "You remember me, don't you? Don't worry, I'm not going to destroy you. There is just something I have to take care of." Cole then went transparent, and jumped into the creature.
***
"Here we are," Michael said as he pulled out a small book from a shelf.
"I just hope this one is more accurate than the coven list," Piper said.
"Don't worry, this one is much easier to keep up to date. Alright, let me look it up," Michael began to flip through the pages rapidly. He finally stopped and said triumphantly, "Found it! The three pieces have surfaced now and then in history, and they have always been recorded. Aside from the one that was stolen, there are two others. One belonged to a witch named Joanna Debuegh. However, she was killed in the 50's, and no one has seen it since."
"Damn, that means that evil already has two of the pieces," Paige said.
"Not necessarily, but it is a likelihood." Michael said, "However, there is some good news. The final piece is a part of a traveling museum unit. It is currently on display in the Egyptian wing of the San Francisco Museum of Arts. We should easily be able to get to it.."
"Let's hurry," Piper said, "We may get lucky and get there before the Warlocks do."
"Should we get Cole and Leo?" Phoebe asked.
"We don't have time, we have to move now. Every second counts in this race." Piper said. "It's risky, but I think we'll be alright. After all, we have our children to protect us, and there are 6 magic users among us. Let's go." The sisters and Michael ran out of the library, and then Paige orbed them.
***
When Cole could see again, he found himself in a prison of some sorts. Rather, Cole realized this is how his mind was able to recognize the captivity of the demon's psyches. "I really like this gift," Cole said out loud. However, as he looked around, Cole realized this was endless, and it would take to long to find the demon he seeked. Cole thought of a sword, and one appeared in his hands. He then began to walk down the hall, seeking a specific demon.
About half an hour later (Cole's wasn't really sure, since time is meaningless here), Cole was thoroughly sick of this place. For one thing, every demon was screaming, for they were slowly being devoured. Even though Cole had done some pretty gruesome things, it took all his effort not to throw up at the sight of some of the demons. In addition, Cole was getting nowhere in his search. Cole was about to give up when he began to feel a tugging on his soul, almost as if something was calling him. Cole realized what and who it was, and began to head rapidly in the direction of the "pull". As he walked, he noticed that the demons were organized fairly well here by timeframe. He had been passing the newer demons, and the older ones must be farther back.
He walked for about 10 minutes, and then he found what he was looking for. Sitting side by side, screaming loudly, were the two demons he sought. He looked at them, and then said, "Hello."
As they turned to observe him, they both smiled. "So, our shared human half has finally come to join us." Belthazor and the Source remarked. Cole smiled, and said, "Not exactly. I have come to end your pain."
"I am surprised by such compassion," the Source said, "But then again, you always were the weaker half."
"You misunderstand. The three of us share a secret that I cannot allow to get out, so I must take steps." Cole said with a smile. He held his right hand up, and an athame appeared. "Any last words?"
"No, only end this torment. Even oblivion will be better than this." Belthazor said. "And I look forward to seeing you join us soon," he finished with an evil smile.
"Not a chance," Cole said, "I'm good now." He threw, and the first athame buried itself in Belthazor's neck. He jerked, and then faded. Cole turned and quickly threw another one, which killed the Source. Cole smiled, and said, "And then there was one." He then left the creature's mind.
***
Paige orbed them into the women's bathroom of the Museum. Michael looked around, and said, "This is embarrassing. Couldn't you have picked someplace else?"
"I had to make sure that we wouldn't be seen," Paige said defensively. "Don't worry, we'll make sure it's safe before we let you out, and we won't tell a soul you were in the women's bathroom."
As the sisters left the bathroom, they looked around, and then Piper said, "It's fine." Michael quickly walked out, and then remarked, "You know, your bathroom is much nicer than ours usually are."
"Of course it is. We're much neater than men," Phoebe said, "Now, let's find us a triangle piece. Which way is the Egyptian exhibit."
"That way," Michael said as it pointed.
"Do you know everything?" Phoebe said in mock annoyance.
"Actually, I just read the sign," Michael said sardonically.
"Oh," Phoebe said as she went red. The sisters hurried to the exhibit. When they got there, they found it to be disserted. Looking around, Paige pointed and asked, "Is that our artifact?"
Michael looked over, and said, "It appears to be." The artifact was stationed with several other broken pieces. The exhibit sign said, "Pyramid pieces," and the artifact was in the center. Michael walked over and said, "Question is, how do we get it?"
"Not a problem," Paige said. She held out her arm, and said, "Triangle Piece." The piece glowed, but otherwise nothing happened. Paige looked in disbelief, and then piper said, "Well, that worked. Just call for the glass shield, and we'll grab it." Paige nodded, and said, "Glass shield." The glass shield disappeared and reappeared in Paige's hands.
As Piper reached for the artifact, a voice said, "What are you doing?" The sisters and Michael spun to see two men wearing security uniforms looking at them suspiciously. "Oh, oh," Piper said.
"Freeze them!" Phoebe shouted. Piper gestured, but the guards kept moving. One turned to the other and said, "So much for our cover. Men!" Five more people blinked in. Phoebe looked at Michael, and said, "Looks like the competition found us."
One of the guards smiled, and said, "So, witches have gotten involved. Oh, well. Get out of our way, and I promise your death will be painless."
"I don't think so," Paige said, and held out her hand. A lightning bolt shot out and almost hit the lead warlock. He ducked, and then said, "A weatherwitch? Just great. Kill them!" The other warlocks summoned athames, and began to advance.
Michael pointed at one and said, "Solaris vicar." A beam of light left his hand and hit the warlock in the chest. He fell back, and lay still. Another warlock threw his athame, and buried it in Michael's shoulder. As Michael fell back with a cry, Phoebe shouted, "LEO!"
A few seconds later, Leo orbed in with a guilty expression on his face and Cole on his arm. He looked around, and the guilt vanished. As Leo ran towards Michael, Cole made a diving tackle of one of the warlocks. They both fell, and began to wrestle around on the ground.
The remaining five warlocks regrouped, and attacked the Charmed Ones head on. Piper tried to blow one of them up, but he tackled her before she could gesture. As he tried to impale her, Piper brought her hand up and slammed it into the warlock's neck. The warlock fell back, and Piper gestured. The warlock exploded.
As another warlock threw an athame, Piper held out her hand. Another cone of orange light emerged, and a stone block fell from the roof and blocked the athame. Piper looked at her hands, and then said, "I have got to figure this out." As she looked back up, she saw one of the warlocks grab the triangle piece. He said, "Two down, one to go. Let's go!" He and the rest of the warlocks then blinked out.
Phoebe got up and said, "Damn, we lost."
"Look, we can discuss this later," Leo said nervously. "Let's get out of here before someone sees us." The sisters, Michael and Cole grabbed onto Leo, and they orbed out.
***
About an hour later, Piper hung up the phone and said, "We're safe. Apparently, the warlocks disabled the security cameras, so there is no footage. Daryl also said the sheer number of fingerprints on the glass made it impossible for them to figure out who did it. The only question is, what do we do now? They've won."
"Maybe not," Michael said. "Remember, the warlock only said they had two pieces, and still needed one."
"I'd forgotten that," Piper said in surprise. "So, what piece are they missing?"
"Well, we know these are the same warlocks that stole the piece from the Library, so it must be the piece that belonged to Joanna Debuegh. We assumed evil had it, but apparently they don't."
"Then, where is it?" Phoebe asked. "I mean, it's not exactly like we can search the world for it."
"We may not have to," Paige said. She looked at her sisters, "Look, Joanna was a witch right? Why don't we summon her spirit and ask her what she did with it?"
"That's a good idea Paige," Piper said. "Let's do it."
Cole looked at the sisters, and said, "I'm going to go back to my place, I left a couple of pre-made potions there that might be useful. Leo, you should stay here. Can I borrow someone's car?"
Piper tossed him her keys, and said, "Just don't get pulled over like last time."
Cole smiled, said, "Don't worry," and was out the door.
Piper turned to her sisters and asked, "Shall we get to it?"
***
Beloved and Unknown spirit, we seek your guidance. We ask you to commune with us, and move among us.
After the sisters repeated the chant a few times, a spirit appeared in front of them. It was a younger woman, who must have been Phoebe's age when she died. She looked around, and asked, "What's going on, why have you summoned me?"
"Are you Joanna?" Michael asked.
The witch looked at Michael, and said, "Yes, what do you want?"
"We are looking for your piece of the Triangle of Hades," Piper said.
The witch's face went stubborn, and she said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Listen, some warlocks are after it to, and we have to get the piece so we can protect it." Phoebe said. When the ghost said nothing, Phoebe added, "Would it help if I told you we're the Charmed Ones?"
The ghost gave a visible start, and said, "The Charmed Ones? My goodness, I never thought I'd see you. Of course I'll help you."
"Where is your piece of the Triangle?" Paige asked.
The women smiled, and said, "My mother was a seer, and when I was born, I saw my death. I knew exactly when and how I would die, and who would kill me. I also knew the significance of my Triangle piece, and decided to do what I could to protect it. I knew no matter where I went, evil would find me, and take it back. I also knew as long as good had it, Evil could always find it. Good can sense evil and all that. Anyway, my born gift was persuasion. I could magically bind any creature to do my bidding. However, the stronger the creature, the harder it would be to make it do what I wanted."
"I'm not sure I see the relevance?" Michael confessed.
"Hush," the women said, "My, you are really impatient. Anyway, as I was saying, when the demon came for me, I was ready. Instead of defending myself, I magically bound him. He was to take the Triangle piece and hide it, and then tell no one where it was. I died, but my spell worked. The demon had to do what I said, and so I knew the Triangle would be safe, for who would suspect evil of having an object stolen by good?"
"Then where is it?" Phoebe asked.
The women sighed, and said, "That is the inherent problem. I don't know. I made sure I wouldn't, in case some evil force tried to compel me later on to tell them where it was. I honestly don't know. Only the demon who killed me knows, and I haven't the slightest clue what happened to him. My advice, summon him and make him tell, if you can. He seemed to be rather powerful and willful to me, and I'm not sure you can get him to tell you."
"We'll have to take that chance," Paige said. "What is the demon's name, so we can summon him?"
The women said, "Are you sure about this? This demon is powerful, and has killed many witches. Even the Charmed Ones may have trouble with this one."
"We can handle it," Piper said confidently, "We beat the Source; how tough can one demon be?"
The woman shook her head and said, "And I thought I was arrogant in my lifetime. Very well, I will tell you."
"His name was Belthazor."
TO BE CONTINUED.